Sarkozy Violations Put His Party on the Brink of Bankruptcy

France’s main opposition party, the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), moved closer to bankruptcy after the nation’s top constitutional authority ruled Thursday that Nicolas Sarkozy, its 2012 presidential nominee, exceeded spending limits in his unsuccessful re-election campaign.

The decision means that the UMP will not receive 11 million euros (about $14 million) in state subsidies,France 24 reported.

Sarkozy angrily resigned his position on France’s Constitutional Council Thursday after that body rejected his campaign’s financial accounting.

The UMP was 44 million Euros in debt two years ago. The party reportedly took out a five-year, 55 million-euro loan in January, putting up its headquarters as collateral.

The ruling worsens an already difficult political situation for the party, which also lost ground to the French Socialist and Green parties in parliamentary elections last year

France’s main opposition party, the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), moved closer to bankruptcy after the nation’s top constitutional authority ruled Thursday that Nicolas Sarkozy, its 2012 presidential nominee, exceeded spending limits in his unsuccessful re-election campaign.